Is there no response?

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I appreciate it.

It is not agreed.

The business and issues facing the country have effectively been driven off the agenda for the rest of the week. That is unacceptable. On the first day of the new Taoiseach's ascension into office, there will be no Leaders' Questions and no Taoiseach's Questions. A debate on disability has been bumped off the agenda. Questions of finance have been bumped off the agenda. That is not the way to start a new Government. It is not acceptable. Just because we are having this jamboree today is not a reason to take busines…

Fine Gael is putting a brave face on today's events, but the real background to the ascension to office of Deputy Simon Harris is an outgoing Taoiseach and one-third of sitting Fine Gael TDs abandoning the Fine Gael ship and being afraid to face the electorate at the next general election. The reason they are abandoning the Fine Gael ship and do not want to face the electorate is because they know they have failed hundreds of thousands of people on the most basic things, namely providing secure and affordable housi…

The first sign of this is the kite-flying around the plan-----

-----to renege on the promise to extend sick leave next year for workers. Already, the new Harris regime is suggesting it is going to renege on a promise to give additional sick leave to workers in order to back the interests of big business. Then, of course, there was the standing ovation over the words Simon Harris used about being repulsed, rightly, at the actions of Israel in its genocidal attack on the people of Palestine, when the same Ard-Fheis voted heavily against the occupied territories Bill, which would…

Monkstown Educate Together National School has lost a whole special education teacher for next year. This is happening all over the place because of this new model of allocation of special education resources and the removal of complex needs as a criterion. It needs to be addressed. When speaking to school communities affected by this, they make a simple point - the Department should trust the schools to tell it what they need. In Monkstown Educate Together National School, the same kids are there and they have the…

Other schools do not want them. We need to look into this and change the model based on need.

Not the schools.

Not all of them.

This is not about the personal feelings of politicians; this is about the welfare and future of the people of this country. The Taoiseach's unexpected decision to signal that he is stepping down as Taoiseach bears all the signs of a Government that has lost confidence in itself because it knows it has lost the confidence of the majority of people in this country. We do not need a shifting of the deck chairs on the Titanic or an internal election in Fine Gael. We need the people to decide; we need a general election…

That is the democratic thing to do. The Taoiseach says that we in the Opposition think things should be perfect. No, we do not - we know perfection is not possible. However, in one of the richest countries in the world, we think it is shameful that we have the worst homelessness crisis in the history of the State and it gets worse week in, week out and month in, month out. Some 4,000 children are living in homelessness and 13,500 people are homeless. Some 68% of our young adults are forced to live at home with thei…

The bit the Taoiseach does not point out is that, as we face this ever-worsening homelessness and housing crisis, house prices and rents in this country now mean that the most basic thing that people need to operate in our society - an affordable roof over their heads - is out of the reach of the vast majority of working people. When you look at the chronic state of our health service, the understaffing and under-resourcing of special needs and our failure to vindicate the rights of people with disabilities and car…

I see their price too.

I join everyone else in paying tribute to Charlie Bird and express, on behalf of People Before Profit, our condolences and sympathies to his wife and all his family. As has already been mentioned, one group of people who will always be grateful to Charlie Bird is the Stardust families, for his relentless commitment to their campaign for justice. I am sure, as they await the outcome of the current inquest, they will be deeply grateful for the support Charlie Bird gave them. It is also perhaps worth mentioning that h…

A Cheann Comhairle-----

I am putting up my hand.

I had a question.

Other Deputies who did not table questions have spoken. Can I not-----